“I’m a Fool” by Sherwood Anderson Essay

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Just like most of Sherwood Anderson’s stories, “I’m a Fool” offers an important moral lesson for his readers to learn. Reading this short story, the audience meets a young boy who desires to make a mash on a beautiful girl resorting to the use of lies and deceitfulness, but he soon realizes that such an approach is a mistake. The girl falls in love with the story’s main character because she likes him just the way he is. The young man is very surprised by such a twist of fate, and he is encouraged to change and become a better person. Eventually, the audience may see a better person who wants to be a deserving man in the main character. In his short story, “I’m a Fool”, Sherwood Anderson discusses the problems which young people may encounter including winning a girl’s heart and building relations, and he does so in a non-intrusive, but the intriguing way which adds a special allurement to this excellent piece of literature.

The setting of the story is in the countryside of America in the 1920s. The main characters are placed into a rural territory where a great number of different domestic animals and animal stock are kept. The main character describes what he has to face on a daily basis: “the swipes coming out with their horses, and with their dirty horsy pants on” (Anderson 252).

The story plot describes a common situation that people face. One day, a young man meets a beautiful girl who is rich and exalted. He describes in the following way: “me trying to pass myself off for a big hug and a swell–to her, as decent a little body as God ever made. Craps almighty–a swell chance I got!” (Anderson 253). He believes there is no way for him to win this girl’s heart, but to lie to her that he is also rich and prosperous. However, at the end of the day, his deceitfulness is uncovered, and the young man is in despair. He comments on his situation: “It was a hard jolt for me, one of the bitterest I ever had to face. And it all came about through my own foolishness, too…” (Anderson 250). However, this time the main hero remains happy because the girl falls in love with him for the sort of a person he is in reality. This subtle irony is an important lesson for both the young man and the story readers. The young man decides to become a better person, stops telling lies, and manages to become successful.

Happily, such situations happen in life as well which presents an important truth for every person to remember: “every human should value oneself the way he or she is, try to become better, and this may lead to a great success”. This important message is the main theme of “I’m a Fool” short story.

The main character of the short story under consideration understood his mistakes, and he even decided to share his experience with the others to prevent them from acting foolishly: “Perhaps, even now, after all this time, there will be a kind of satisfaction in making myself look cheap by telling of it” (Anderson 250). Young men should mind a wise lesson Anderson teaches in this story.

In conclusion, the short story “I’m a Fool” by Sherwood Anderson is a thought-provoking appeal by the author to young men such as the main character of the story. It is also rich in subtle irony and unique symbolism. In this short story, the author teaches his readers to avoid such foolish mistakes as telling lies to impress the others.

Works Cited

Anderson, Sherwood. Tales, Long and Short, from Our American Life, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2022, February 2). "I'm a Fool” by Sherwood Anderson. https://ivypanda.com/essays/im-a-fool-by-sherwood-anderson/

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""I'm a Fool” by Sherwood Anderson." IvyPanda, 2 Feb. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/im-a-fool-by-sherwood-anderson/.

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IvyPanda. (2022) '"I'm a Fool” by Sherwood Anderson'. 2 February.

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IvyPanda. 2022. ""I'm a Fool” by Sherwood Anderson." February 2, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/im-a-fool-by-sherwood-anderson/.

1. IvyPanda. ""I'm a Fool” by Sherwood Anderson." February 2, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/im-a-fool-by-sherwood-anderson/.


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IvyPanda. ""I'm a Fool” by Sherwood Anderson." February 2, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/im-a-fool-by-sherwood-anderson/.

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